Slusher bucket



March 11, 1952 J o prr-rs 2,588,657

'HER BUCKET Filed Dec. 27, 1948 2 SHEETSSHEET l INVENTOR.

JoH/v 0. P/Tm 22 42 l lTTOQ/VEY Patented Mar. 11, 1952 UNITE sures PATENT! V 4 Claims. 1.. This". invention relates to a hoist-operated. bucket for use-witha portable'hoist ina mine .-for dragging .rock and ore-upona loading ramp or.

chute forloading .the mine cars. The hoist ropes and bucket are sometimes called muckers, scraperhaulers, or dragscrapers,although the general term for the entire rigis a slusher, and the bucket is generally known as a .slusher bucket. In-rmannnnines :thelorexbodies are 'inclinedand. areasworkedafromiaboveuand ,insuch .cases it. is: impossible: to.;p1ace:the;.bucket below the .=load so.-

thatsiti willltfilliwhenudrawn upward, as, :is;:usua1:

with dragline buckets.

The principal object of.1thisv invention isito provideva bucket which. will .fill while being drawn. downwardly along aninclined'mine stope ande-which',' when-filled, can be'turned over for: thereturn trip up the gradeuwithout spilling the contents.-

A furthergobject is to so-construct the bucket thatrit can be efficientlyoperated from a standard,= portable, -,three-drum slusher such; as used in mining operations, and to provideefie'ctive' means for: preventing. the :contents from rolling from the open end of the bucketduring the down hill filling operation.

A still further objectis to provide a bucketof thistype with levers'or runners which can be op'-. erated from the 'slusher to tilt or incline the bucket at any desired digging angle. J

tail construction of the inventionwhichjs de.-'- signed. for: simplicity, economy, and efficiency. These will become more apparent from the following description.

Inthe following detailed description of the invention, reference is had to the accompanying drawing whichlforms a part hereof. Like numerals refer to like partsin all views ofthe drawing and: throughout the description.

Ir! the drawing;

F1'g..i:1 .is.;a..perspective. riew of the improved bucket :Las i it would appear .when traveliiigxaforwardly for'filling;

Fig.2 is a planview thereof ;1'

Figs- 3 :is :a sectional view of the improved bucket, taken .ontheline 3-.3,.-Fig. 2; and.

Figs. 4, 5, and 6 are diagrammatic views illutrating the improved bucket in use.

The improved bucket consists of two side walls in joined by a curved plate which forms a top II. a bottom 12, and a curved end IS. The top H is shorter than the bottom I2, and the forward edges of the side walls In are inclined rearwardly to accommodate the difierence in length trained 205 The forward portions of' :the: bail .1egs:-are': curved" between thei -top:and bottorn'mandzito'iiprovide' forward cuttings edge Mmmth'e bottom [ti-The v entire assembly is ::welded togethemtowform as complete, integral tunit'.

in:.the .breasta.of:th;stopes'ahead.of the bucketi The. bucketasis sprovidediwithc 2a :iJ =shapedibail' 2: having fa -.:bridge rand .armseextendingiireazr wardly" fromithe' bridge falong EbOthiiSides-19f 1711B. bucket and areipivotallvmounted 'at each'sideipnit a pivot s'tud' ZI projecting. outwardlyiaifromiieacm of the side walls to. The legs ofthe ba-ilehave 'am' approximate S-shape; andzextendr'rearwardz firom the .pivot studs :2 I z toiformttrailing extr'emitiesxfli downwardly and .upwardly itozpass:beneathsstop members 23, which project outward from-mach side .wall I 0 forwardly 30f: thezpivot studsl l', and to provide a curved ridingsurfaceil.

The: extremity :of wthe-wreturn rope-all is icon nected with a bridle -41 having =it's'=-.ends ;-attached to the' extremitieszof the -'bai1 ;20 -throughi-thesme='-.- dium of suitable :cable :loops 252: The, extremity.

of the lead rope- I6 is-loopedrthrough ta-cable *eye 26 at the middle of the bail Zflfand Ssecuredrbst Other objects and advantages reside in the de.-

meansrofs'suitable lU -bolts: '21.. The extremityrfoi the. tail rope l 8 isuconnectedito' the; middle? of the curvedx-endicli-l inlany desired?mannemrsucmambyi passing it. about a :crossr'zbolt 39.inset in. the'aend rollershaft lcarri'e shown in'Fign .l

The top H -is.zprovided:with=two spaced-apart:

laterally exte'ndinglrollereshaftsflasmounted :in suitableibearing ears ion; ;the:.=sideznvalis .10.: Each air.ofzspaicedsaparttrollers' 29?. Theii'rollersr onrrthe": rear-most-L--shaft'.: '28.:ride in. a rrolleriindentation 30. 111 uthe stopz l l A damper. :shaft .3 l extendsacrossw the 'openmouth of the bucket. The extremitiesi ofr the 4.5 shaft 7 3 L are removably :mounted- .in=. receiving yoke's Tins-whichthey ,are' removably yheld s'by means/of: cottenkeysx- 33; Thelshaftui laisgposi-i tionedir;closer.rto.=:-therbottoms I 2 thanirtovthevtop I I, and carries a swinging damper plate 34 which normally rests on the bottom l2 and which can as indicated at 38, to a. hopper opening 36 for The bucket -'is r-designed to be'"=operated-bea standard, portable, .t1'll E-'dIum.;1lOiSt.-' orvslushem'iv indicated" air-I5, Fig: .14. A1? wirer-rope .leadssfrom each of the three drumsgraleadirope -16; aret'urn 1 rope H, andv a tail rope 18.2.. The dead rope FIB-ism about a lead sheave -i 9-; usually anchored'z dumping into cars 31. In such a stope it is im- I possible to place the bucket below the muck 38 for drawing the latter upwardly to the hopper opening 36. With the improved bucket, however, the bucket is filled as it moves downwardly into the muck.

In Figs. 4, 5, and 6 the operation of the improved bucket has been diagrammed. The bucket is first drawn downwardly into the muck 38 in the stope 35 by means of the lead rope I6, as shown in Fig. 4. The muck travels into the bucket, forcing the damper plate to swing rearwardly. The material cannot roll forwardly from the bucket, due to the checking action of the damper plate.

The bucket is retarded and guided in its downward path by means of the tail rope l8 and the braking equipment on the hoist I5. The tail rope prevents the bucket from turning sidewardly or rolling over during its downward course.

Should itbe desired to take a deeper .bite of material, the operator can increase the tension in the return rope ll, causing the forward extremity of the bail 20 to be lifted, and causing the trailing extremities 22 to engage the ground surface to tilt the rear extremity of the bucket upwardly so as to lower the cutting edge 14.

When the bucket has been filled to a level above the damper shaft 31, the lead rope I6 is slackened and the return rope I! is reeled in. This tilts the bail 20 upwardly and rearwardly until the legs thereof strike the stop members 23.

-The entire bucket will then be swung upwardly asa unit with the bail 20 until the vertical position of Fig. is reached, at which time the weight of the bucket and its contents will rest upon the end plate 13. Further rearward movement of the return rope l1 tilts the bucket rearwardly to the broken-line position of Fig. 6, allowing the weight to rest upon the rollers 29.

' The hoist continues to reel in the return rope I! and the tail rope I 8, and to pay out the lead 'rope l6 so as to draw the bucket upwardly along Y the stope 35 and ramp 39 until the hopper opening36 is reached. This removes the support from f the rollers 29, allowing the entire bucket to swing Q? downwardly to the full-line position dump the contents into the cars 31. The bucket is supported by means of the bail 20 and the trailof Fig. 6 to ing extremities 22.

The return rope I1 is now tightened to elevate the bail, and the lead rope is reeled in to swing the bail forwardly and downwardly to the original position of Fig. 4. The tail rope i8 is also reeled in to pull the end I3 of the bucket forwardly, so as to turn the bucket back to the original position of Fig. 4 to receive another load.

It is desired to call attention to the fact that when the bucket swings from the position of Fig. 4 to the solid-line position of Fig. 6, the freeswinging damper'plate 34 will maintain a substantially vertical position at all times, so as not to interfere with the discharge of material from the bucket.

' If the bucket is used on a level surface or for While a specific form of the improvement has been described and illustrated herein, it is to be understood that the same may be varied, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a slusher bucket, a bucket open at its front, a tail rope connected with the rear end of said bucket, a U-shaped bail straddling said bucket and having a bridge and arms extending rearwardly from the bridge along opposite sides of the bucket, pivot members pivotally connecting the opposite side walls of the bucket with the arms of said bail and pivotally mounting the bucket for tilting movement through the bail, a lead rope and a return rope connected with the bridge of said bail, and stop members projecting outwardly from the side walls of the bucket forwardly of the pivot members and over the bail in position to be engaged by the arms of said bail when the bail is swung upwardly and rearwardly so as to tilt the bucket and the bail to an inverted position, the pivot members then pivotally mounting the bucket for downward tilting movement through the bail to a dumping position.

2. The structure set forth in claim 1, wherein the arms of the bail have rear end portions extending from the pivot members and projecting beyond the rear end of the bucket and adapting the bail to serve as a fulcrum upon which the bucket swings from its normal position toward an inverted position.

3. The structure set forth in claim 1, wherein the bucket has its rear wall arcuate vertically between the top and bottom of the bucket, said bail having the rear ends of its arms projecting beyond the arcuate rear wall and serving as a fulcrum upon which the bucket tilts upwardly and rearwardly on its arcuat-e rear wall and then continues its tilting movement rearwardly and downwardly to an inverted position in which the bucket has its top presented downwardly.

4. The structure set forth in claim 1, wherein the bucket has its rear wall arcuate between the top and the bottom of the bucket and upon which the bucket has tilting movement rearwardly and downwardly to an inverted position presenting its top downwardly, and rollers extending across the top transversely thereof and rotatably mounted and upon which the bucket is supported when in its inverted position.

JOHN O. PITTS.

REFERENCES CETED The following references are of record in the iile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 537,571 Hall Apr. 16, 1895 870,516 Lyons Nov. 5, 1907 1,027,301 Williams May 21, 1912 1,342,759 Pugh June 8, 1920 1,824,989 Fundom Sept. 29, 1931 2,286,765 Settersten June 16, 1942 2,425,664 Zakel Aug. 12, 1947 

